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A Trump supporter says he and others spotted the attempted assassin of former President Donald Trump on a nearby rooftop minutes before shots rang out at a Trump rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania. He and others, he said, tried to get the attention of law enforcement.
Greg Smith, speaking to the BBC, expressed shock that law enforcement seemed confused and didn’t appear to follow up on their alerts.
“I’m thinking to myself ‘Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage,'” Smith said. “The next thing you know, five shots ring out.”
Smith was listening to Trump from just outside the rally and said he saw the shooter “bear-crawl” to the top of a building.
“We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50ft away,” he said. “He had a rifle, we could clearly see a rifle.”
“We’re pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground, we’re like, ‘Hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle,'” Smith recalled. “The police did not know what was going on.”
A bullet zipped by Trump’s face during the rally, piercing the upper part of his right ear, and Secret Service rushed in to surround and protect the former president. After the attempt on his life, a bloodied Trump brushed off the agents, threw his fist in the air, and repeatedly shouted, “Fight!” His supporters broke out in a “U-S-A” chant.
Smith called the shooting a “security failure.”
“Why is there not Secret Service on all of these roofs here?” he posed. “This is not a big place. “[It’s a] security failure, 100% security failure.”
WATCH:
Witness says he saw gunman on the roof near President Donald J Trump rally. A man with a rifle was seen on a rooftop minutes before shots were fired at President Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania, a witness has told the BBC. Greg Smith said the man had crawled on top of a… pic.twitter.com/MrHSO8BbIs
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In a post to Truth Social on Sunday morning, Trump said that God saved his life and called on Americans to “stand united” and fight against evil.
“Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” he wrote. “We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness.”
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” Trump added.
Related: ‘We Will FEAR NOT’: Trump Releases New Statement, Says ‘God Alone’ Saved Him
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